The American poet Sylvia Plath wrote "The Night Dances" in 1962, not long after the birth of her second child. The poem contrasts the beautiful yet fleeting nature of human existence with the infinite darkness of the cosmos. The speaker lovingly watches their child's playful nighttime movements (the "night dances" of the title), all the while sensing that such tender moments are insignificant against the backdrop of a cold, empty universe. The speaker wonders why they've been blessed with these moments of joy and love, knowing that they will inevitably, and too quickly, be lost. The poem was published in 1965 as part of the posthumous collection, Ariel. Plath's husband and fellow poet Ted Hughes said that "The Night Dances" was inspired by their son's twirling movement in his crib.
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The Full Text of “The Night Dances”
The Full Text of “The Night Dances”
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“The Night Dances” Summary
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“The Night Dances” Themes
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The Fleeting Nature of Life
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-10
- Lines 15-28
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The Joy of Parenthood
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 5-10
- Lines 22-28
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Night Dances”
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Lines 1-2
A smile fell ...
... Irretrievable! -
Lines 3-4
And how will ...
... themselves. In mathematics? -
Lines 5-10
Such pure leaps ...
... sleeps, lilies, lilies. -
Lines 11-14
Their flesh bears ...
... of hot petals. -
Lines 15-18
The comets ...
... gestures flake off— -
Lines 19-23
Warm and human, ...
... lamps, these planets -
Lines 24-28
Falling like blessings, ...
... Nowhere.
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“The Night Dances” Symbols
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The Natural World
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “A smile fell in the grass. / Irretrievable!”
- Lines 9-10: “Of your small breath, the drenched grass / Smell of your sleeps, lilies, lilies.”
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Lilies
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 10-14: “Smell of your sleeps, lilies, lilies. / Their flesh bears no relation. / Cold folds of ego, the calla, / And the tiger, embellishing itself— / Spots, and a spread of hot petals.”
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“The Night Dances” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Imagery
Where imagery appears in the poem:- Lines 9-10: “the drenched grass / Smell of your sleeps,”
- Line 14: “Spots, and a spread of hot petals.”
- Line 19: “Warm and human, then ”
- Lines 19-20: “their pink light / Bleeding and peeling”
- Lines 24-26: “like flakes / Six sided, white / On my eyes, my lips, my hair”
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Simile
Where simile appears in the poem:- Lines 22-25: “Why am I given / These lamps, these planets / Falling like blessings, like flakes / Six sided, white”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “A smile fell in the grass. / Irretrievable!”
- Lines 18-21: “So your gestures flake off— / Warm and human, then their pink light / Bleeding and peeling / Through the black amnesias of heaven.”
- Lines 22-23: “Why am I given / These lamps, these planets”
- Lines 27-28: “Touching and melting. / Nowhere.”
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Personification
Where personification appears in the poem:- Lines 3-4: “And how will your night dances / Lose themselves.”
- Lines 6-7: “Surely they travel / The world forever,”
- Lines 12-13: “Cold folds of ego, the calla, / And the tiger, embellishing itself—”
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Epizeuxis
Where epizeuxis appears in the poem:- Line 10: “lilies, lilies”
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Asyndeton
Where asyndeton appears in the poem:- Lines 7-10: “The world forever, I shall not entirely / Sit emptied of beauties, the gift / Of your small breath, the drenched grass / Smell of your sleeps, lilies, lilies.”
- Lines 16-17: “Have such a space to cross, / Such coldness, forgetfulness.”
- Lines 23-24: “These lamps, these planets / Falling like blessings, like flakes”
- Lines 25-26: “Six sided, white / On my eyes, my lips, my hair”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 3-4: “dances / Lose”
- Lines 6-7: “travel / The”
- Lines 7-8: “entirely / Sit”
- Lines 8-9: “gift / Of”
- Lines 9-10: “grass / Smell”
- Lines 15-16: “comets / Have”
- Lines 19-20: “light / Bleeding”
- Lines 20-21: “peeling / Through”
- Lines 22-23: “given / These”
- Lines 23-24: “planets / Falling”
- Lines 24-25: “flakes / Six”
- Lines 25-26: “white / On”
- Lines 26-27: “hair / Touching”
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Consonance
Where consonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “smile fell”
- Line 5: “Such pure leaps,” “spirals”
- Line 7: “entirely”
- Line 8: “Sit emptied,” “beauties”
- Line 10: “Smell,” “sleeps, lilies, lilies”
- Line 12: “Cold folds,” “calla”
- Line 13: “embellishing itself”
- Line 14: “Spots,” “spread,” “hot petals”
- Line 15: “comets”
- Line 16: “such,” “space,” “cross”
- Line 17: “Such coldness, forgetfulness”
- Line 18: “So,” “gestures flake off”
- Line 19: “Warm,” “human,” “pink,” “light”
- Line 20: “Bleeding,” “peeling”
- Line 21: “heaven”
- Line 22: “given”
- Line 23: “lamps,” “planets”
- Line 24: “Falling like blessings, like flakes”
- Line 25: “Six sided”
- Line 26: “hair”
- Line 28: “Nowhere”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 9: “breath,” “drenched”
- Line 10: “Smell”
- Line 12: “Cold folds,” “ego”
- Line 13: “embellishing itself”
- Line 14: “Spots,” “spread,” “hot,” “petals”
- Line 15: “comets”
- Line 16: “cross”
- Line 18: “off”
- Line 20: “Bleeding,” “peeling”
- Line 21: “amnesias,” “heaven”
- Line 22: “given”
- Line 23: “lamps,” “planets”
- Line 25: “sided, white”
- Line 26: “my eyes, my,” “my,” “hair”
- Line 28: “Nowhere”
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Parallelism
Where parallelism appears in the poem:- Lines 8-10: “the gift / Of your small breath, the drenched grass / Smell of your sleeps”
- Lines 23-24: “These lamps, these planets / Falling like blessings, like flakes”
- Line 26: “On my eyes, my lips, my hair”
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Rhetorical Question
Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:- Lines 3-4: “And how will your night dances / Lose themselves. In mathematics?”
- Lines 22-27: “Why am I given / These lamps, these planets / Falling like blessings, like flakes / Six sided, white / On my eyes, my lips, my hair / Touching and melting.”
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“The Night Dances” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Irretrievable
- Spirals
- Drenched
- Ego
- The calla
- Embellishing
- The tiger
- Black amnesias
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(Location in poem: Line 2: “Irretrievable!”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Night Dances”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Night Dances” Speaker
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“The Night Dances” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Night Dances”
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More “The Night Dances” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poet's Life and Work — A biography of Plath from the Poetry Foundation.
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An Essay About "The Night Dances" — A 2012 essay by Emma Komlos-Hrobsky that discusses the poem, published by Tin House Magazine.
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50 Years of Ariel — An episode of Poetry Off the Shelf, a podcast about contemporary poetry, which discusses the impact of Ariel, the collection in which "The Night Dances" first appeared.
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Forward to the Restored Edition of Ariel — An introduction to the 2010 Restored Edition of Plath's Ariel collection, written by her daughter, Frieda Hughes.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Sylvia Plath
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